ShopSavvy, a mobile shopping application that aggregates sales from retailers across the nation, is streamlining bargain-hunting with an application for the Apple Watch that will tap geolocation technology to alert wearers of sales in-store or nearby.

Once the app is released April 24, users will be able to create wish lists and set sales alerts for specific products or brands, making a shopping list just a wrist swipe away. The flood of apps pouring forth for the Apple Watch points to the growing impact of wearables, even as the smaller screen size challenges marketers to find ways to deliver more concise, personal messages.

“It’s critical to target the users’ personal interests,” said John Boyd, CEO of ShopSavvy. “A personalized experience increases sales because the user gets offers they’re actually interested in.

“Capitalizing on this will be a critical piece of our Apple Watch strategy,” he said.

Engaging customers
Adding the Apple Watch app to its arsenal of tools to engage customers will enhance ShopSavvy’s ability not only to send the user customized and complementary product recommendations but also to provide notifications about related deals.

ShopSavvy focused on creating a fluid user interface and personalized experience for its app. 

Once users download the ShopSavvy Apple Watch app on their smartphone, they can set up customizable SmartAlerts to describe the kinds of deals and discounts they are looking for. This set-up includes specific products, brands or categories.

Via geolocation technology, users will receive Apple Watch notifications when the app has identified a special deal nearby. 

“The instant a shopper walks into a retail store, they’ll know if there are any current sales they might be interested in just by looking at their wrist,” Mr. Boyd said. “This level of convenience will create a much more efficient shopper and bargain hunter.” 

New world
The age of untargeted offers, coupons and ads is giving way to a world in which users walk into a store and receive notifications of highly targeted offers on their wrist.

Boosting shopper interaction.

“These targeted sales are unique and personalized to that shopper,” Mr. Boyd said. “This is a much more efficient advertising model. 

“We believe this idea will create a whole new phase of interaction with shoppers while they are in any given store. This kind of targeted marketing will inevitably tie into new point-of-sale systems for checkout and connect all the way to the backend marketing systems. Marketing platforms will become the front line of offense for in-store shopper engagement.”

Final Take
Michael Barris is staff reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York